


Old Men Need Their Tea

by CrypticWonder



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: All Will be Mentioned, Character Study, Gen, Headcanon Accepted, How Do I Tag, Most Will be Included, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2020-04-05 02:19:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19039174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrypticWonder/pseuds/CrypticWonder
Summary: Team Rainbow is a melting pot of cultures and people, many of which with their own beliefs and problems. Despite the chaos, Mike Baker wouldn’t have it any other way, especially when he was playing poker with other operators that really should be nearing retirement, but what’s the fun in that?





	1. Mike “Thatcher” Baker

**Author's Note:**

> This has taken way to long for me to write and post, but I finally worked up enough courage to post this, and I think it’s decent enough that it can pass as acceptable, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. Without further ado, enjoy!

If anyone had told Mike he would be spending his off-time gossiping with other veterans ten years ago, chances were that he would've ~~ripped them a new one~~ kindly told them that wasn’t possible.

Alas, here he was, chatting with Vicente, Alexsandr, and Gilles about what had happened today over a game of poker. As the SAS operator dealt out cards, Alexsandr began his daily report on the Spetsnaz and their adventures. "Say, did anyone hear about the fight between Shuhrat and Mei Lin?"

Three heads lifted, curious of the mystery brawl. Mike groaned, hoping it wasn't bad enough that he would have to report to Six about it. "Oh god, what happened this time?”

The Russian chuckled, seemingly knowing what the Brit was thinking. "Do not worry, comrade, it was nothing much. There was a minor disagreement over how the Candelas should be modified, and Shuhrat may or may not have been kicked in the _мячи*_."

Vicente lay his cards down, revealing a royal flush, much to the other men's disappointment. As Thatcher collected the cards to be reshuffled, the men all took drinks of wine, courtesy of Gilles. "You know, that doesn't sound like much of a fight," the Frenchman remarked. "That just sounds like Ying beat the crap out of him." The others hummed in agreement, quickly inspecting their cards.

As time passed, a few operators passed by the table, often muttering a quick "hi", before walking off to the kitchen in search of a drink or late night snack. A bit past 11:00 P.M., Lesion entered the room, leaning over Alexsandr's shoulder, glancing a peek at his hand. Noticing the exceptional hand, he whistled, whisking the alcohol away, before beginning to brew a kettle of tea. Before long, he heard the slamming of fists on the poker table, soon followed by muffled whisper-shouting. Quietly chuckling to himself, Tze Long carried five mugs of tea over to them, placing a cup in each of the operators' hands. "Now, now, men. Let's not get too riled up, it's just a friendly wager, yes?"

Eventually, the men grumbled in a mild form of agreement, glaring at Alexsandr while he flashed his signature shit-eating grin.

As time passed, and Mike repeatedly handing the cards out, Tze Long decided it was his time to leave, gently reminding the older men not to stay up all night playing, much to their annoyance. As time passed, and quiet curses were muttered, Gilles stole a quick glance at the clock hanging in the common room, grumbling softly when he noticed the time. The Frenchman's body seeming to finally catch up with the time, he yawned, looking around at the other operators.

"You know, it's getting pretty late; we should probably finish up this game and head back." The others all peeked at the clock, nodded their agreements. After all, they had training early the coming morning.

Despite the previous agreement, the men soon found themselves trapped in the clutches of poker once more. As Mike checked the clock, he noticed that not only half an hour had passed, but rather two and a half hours. "Shit, we should really stop now." He muttered, reaching for the wine bottle. Lifting it up, he realized that it had been emptied hours earlier, essentially ending their poker binge. As the men handed in their cards, they collectively cleaned up, placing dishes in the sink, or folding the table back up.

As the older men walked back to their dorms, Thatcher muttered a quick, "G'night boys," a farewell reciprocated in the others’ mother languages.

* * *

 

As the sun began to peek through, Mike began to stir, as did many others in Hereford Base. Cracking the bones in his back, slowly shaking the sleep out of him, he prepared himself for the day, eventually heading out to the mess hall for breakfast before training.

As usual, Adriano and Miles were in the kitchen, Jordan standing nearby on standby, ready to help at a moment's notice, or to cause trouble ~~if~~ when he got bored. Taking in the hall around him, he noticed only a few people were already there, many either milling about, inhaling cups of coffee in a desperate attempt to drag themselves out of the morning drowsiness, or simply still asleep, a partner likely trying to wake them up (read: Tze Long and Enatsu). Opting to grab a drink of coffee, he strode past the table, snatching up one of the cheap styrofoam cups full of caffeinated perfection. Not bothering with creamer or sugar (either could impact his health, especially at his age), he sat at the SAS table, slowly sipping his coffee as he awaited the rest of team, and breakfast. Not surprisingly, the next wave of operators soon scuffled in, including Mei Lin, Emmanuelle, Marius, and Seamus.

As they hobbled along, Seamus stopped by the coffee table, picking up three cups, before walking to the table. Placing one of the cups before Mike, he kept the other two to himself, damn near chugging them in an attempt to chase the drowsiness away. Within twenty minutes, most operators had shuffled in, huddled in their respective tables. Glancing over to the situation between Masaru and Tze Long, he wasn't surprised to see that Yumiko and Grace had joined in the attempt to wake the Japanese defender, although it had little to no effect in awakening the robotics engineer. ~~~~

* * *

 

Masaru Enatsu was a man known for being a deep sleeper, often accompanied by a really fucked up sleep schedule, which most certainly did not help.

As most of the Asian operators continued attempting to awaken him (Ying and Vigil excluded), Jäger passed by, slamming his fist down dangerously close to his face, jolting him awake. Years of training kicking in, he glanced around, searching for the source of the loud bang. Seeing the German engineer laughing, he glared as menacingly as he could with a bedhead (table-head?), promptly flipping him off after giving a light shove. "Fuck you, Marius, I was up all night!"

Feigning shock, he cooed mockingly. "What, up all night trying to modify _Yokai_ again?"

Grumbling, Enatsu rolled his eyes. "Yes, now be a good friend and fetch me a cup of coffee."

"Haha, sure thing, _boss_."

Before he had the chance to retaliate, Lesion placed a firm hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping him in his place. Living up to her namesake, Dokkaebi kept poking Masaru on the head, much to his annoyance. Despite repeatedly swatting the hand away, Nam persisted, even poking him harder until he suddenly grabbed her hand, twisting it roughly before slamming it down on the table.

"Quit it," he growled, the tone _daring_ her to keep trying. And try she did (and that was how the hacking battle began, but that's a story for another time), prompting the defender to punch her in the gut when she reached over to tap his head.

Before the situation could escalate any further, Marius returned, clutching four cups of coffee, placing all of them in front of Enatsu. Muttering a quick "thanks", he chugged the drinks down hurriedly, completely disregarding the fact that he would probably burn his tongue, not to mention get a nice lecture from Hibana. As expected, the scalding liquid left a slightly painful scorch on his tongue, and Yumiko began chastising him about why he shouldn't do that (fun!), Grace often chiming in in agreement. Stacking the now-empty cups in one neat tower, he dropped the cups onto the floor, horrifying nearly everyone that was sitting immediate vicinity, Vigil included, who at some point had begun glancing over, trying to figure out what the hell was going on; after all, what type of manners was _that_?

As the operators stared in shock, a modified Yokai quickly swooped in, cleaning the mess with a rag attached to a claw, another clutching the shaky styrofoam cups over to the trash cans. Grumbling something Japanese, he stared everyone at the table down. "You see? _This_ is what I was making last night: a goddamn modified Roomba, so that at least the mess hall can be decently clean. Now leave me alone, and don't wake me until breakfast is ready."

With that, he unceremoniously dropped his head back into his arms, the others looking at each other, the once-again sleeping man, with expressions of pure confusion.

* * *

 

Finally peeling his eyes off of the Asian Crisis, Mike glanced over to the door, noticing that the two SAS defenders had finally stumbled into the cafeteria, exhaustion clear in their eyes as they glanced around the large room. Slowly walking towards the table, Seamus sighed, getting up to make another round for coffee.

Smirking, Mike looked at the two with a knowing look. "Stayed up all night playing games again?" Mark nodded slowly, his mind still in 'sleep mode'.

At some point in time, Jordan had taken control of the speaker in the kitchen, blasting country at random intervals, much to everyone else's dismay. At one point, Eliza had walked into the kitchen and actually _slapped_ him, very loudly tell him to 'shut the fuck up with that shit', to which he had responded by blowing her a raspberry, but eventually turned it off, which had effectively made most people happier.

Despite the Texan's microphone hijacking, Adriano had at some point regained control, announcing that breakfast was ready to be eaten. In a near instant, forty-odd special ops soldiers had piled onto each other in a mad dash to get the food as fast as they could. Some were bright enough to wait out the pile-up, instead choosing to wait patiently with a cup of joe, or just sleeping until food was brought before them. This niche mostly consisting of Jackal, Echo, Fuze, and Doc, all four notorious for their messed up sleep schedules (oftentimes caused by stress, too much time in the workshop, or mountains of paperwork that demanded themselves be finished).

Seamus, being the giant of a man he was, found it quite easy to wade his way through the sea of soldiers, even sometimes picking up smaller operators and placing them closer to the counter, where they could more easily reach the food without being trampled on the way. The other British soldiers didn't even bother getting up, instead allowing the Scotsman to get them their food, as it would be easier for him to pick up the food and bring it back in one trip without being too seriously affected by the stampede than if they were to all go at once. As the Scot finally made his way back, the Brits were greeted with a warm, steaming heap of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon, alongside a small serving of butter and syrup for the pancakes. Bowing their heads, the four men quickly said grace, before very ungracefully digging in, each attacking the meal with a different strategy.

Similarly, many of the operators did the same, some thanking the Lord before eating, others just digging straight in.

Scanning the room, Mike realized the true gravity of Hereford Base: it was a melting pot of people and their cultures, some more traditional, while others pushed the boundaries. Being the elite special forces they were, the operators tended to be quite territorial when it came to seating; unless you were the same nationality, or were and good terms with the at least two people in the CTU in command of the area, you were basically forbidden from treading foot in that territory, hence causing the mess hall to have been remodeled to suit the soldiers' needs. In the American table, Erik sat with Craig and the FBI operators, while most of the ladies, excluding Hibana, Ying, and Dokkaebi, sat in their own corner, likely chatting about the men and their often idiotic antics. In the East Corner, as many liked to call it, Lesion, the S.A.T., 707th SMB, and Spetsnaz huddled together, Tze Long often cracking jokes with the Russians as Masaru, Grace, and Chul Kyung discussed technology, and Yumiko and Ying often just chatting about how purely stupid Tze Long and Enatsu were ~~often~~ most days.

_Fooking kids nowadays, always talking about 'tweeter' and video games,_ Mike thought. He always considered himself old-fashioned, preferring his bare hands to do the work, rather than technology. Unlike electronics, your own flesh and bone can't be affected by EMP's. That was one of the main reasons why he had recommended Seamus to Team Rainbow as his in-field second in command: he not only knew the importance of tradition, and not relying on technology too much, but he the mind of a strategic genius. Back when Rainbow had first formed, Seamus had packed a few extra breaching charges in case his hammer was too weathered for further use, but he had traded them out for stuns after the trigger had jammed during a hostage crisis. After that, he had recommended to his team to avoid the breach charges unless they had no breaching capability available in their kit. However, the shared distaste for tech hadn't been the only reason. Most importantly, he still held moral values above all else, second only to the mindset of the mission being completed at all costs, the only exception being if a fellow operator's life was in peril.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he quietly finished up his meal before getting up to deposit the tray and utensils in the marked area, where the dishes would be sent to a mass dishwasher. Most operators saw the older man leave, their telltale cue to hurry up and get ready for training. Swiftly moving to catch up to the Brit, they rushed out the room to follow him to the training yard, where the range and downsized mock Hereford Base lay.

As Thatcher assumed command of his chosen attackers for Blue Team, Alexsandr reined in his squad of defenders, demanding their attention to go over strategies. After a minute of discussion, both teams had chosen which operators they wished to ban from the game. As the starting defenders, Orange team was allowed to pick the first banned attacker, a recruit revealing Lion's icon card. Groaning, the French attacker went to sit down on the bleachers. As Blue Team chose their next operator, they unanimously agreed to ban Blitz, much to the German's chagrin. Next, they banned Mira, the Spaniard grumbling the entire way to the benches. As the final ban, Orange Team chose to remove Echo, much to the Japanese defender's indifference. As he quietly pacing to the seats, a game was already fired up on his PDA.

* * *

 

The next few hours passed relatively quickly, the CT's taking breaks only for lunch and water breaks, the entire time spent training and rotating through different banned operators to avoid a certain operator from being banned too quickly often. By the time they had finished, it was 7:00 P.M. and everyone was too tired to keep going, so they all shuffled to the mess hall once more, before either retiring to the living room, workshop, or back to their bedrooms.

As the older men moved to the poker table, the ~~nerds~~ engineers to the workshop, and the rest back to bed, Gilles was telling the others of the day, laughing of the time had had trapped Bandit from entering the objective, allowing the attackers to secure the area, and how he had denied Alexsandr the destruction of a defuser, much to the Russian's annoyance (and slight amusement). Once again, the men played into the late hours, until eventually they had decided to call it a night, and with that, the entire base was quiet, save the occasional whirring and curse, courtesy of the men and women in the workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Russian for “balls”
> 
> So, I hope y’all enjoyed! I’m sorry if this chapter felt like it was all over the place, because that was how I wanted it to be like. Future chapters will be more organized, I swear.
> 
> If you noticed anything wrong, please let me know below, and I’ll see if I can fix it asap.
> 
> I am always trying to improve my writing skills, so con. crit is always appreciated, if you have the time to leave a comment. Tell me what you did, or didn’t like, so that I can work on it in the future.


	2. Seamus “Sledge” Cowden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve pretty much decided I’m gonna just turn this story into a character study/profiling. I’m hoping it’ll pan over well, but I’m honestly not quite sure at this rate. It seem to be doing pretty ok, but I really don’t have enough experience to say what’s good or not.

_Seamus is an interesting man, not only in size and stature, but also in the way he interacts with others; he’s kind and gentle to his allies, but he can flip on a dime whenever someone comes into harm’s way. Before he joined the SAS, when he was still an enlisted, I had actually seen him at a pub in Manchester on a chance encounter. I’m not sure why I was there, but I vividly remember him getting into an argument with another lad when he was pestering a random little fellow. To this day, I can still remember very clearly him sizing the latter up, before lifting him up as if he weighed nothing and slamming him down against a table. I knew at that moment I wanted him in the SAS; a man who stood up for those who couldn’t fend for themselves is the type of man the SAS needed more of. Men like him are a dying breed of sorts, seeing as you can’t really find much like him nowadays._

_When I was asked to recommend other operators to represent the SAS, you sure as hell believe he was at the top of the list. After being recruited to join us, I had discovered that he not only held strong moral values, but he also was a brilliant strategist. He’s planned countless assaults, and all have gone relatively smoothly, with no friendly casualties, and only minor injuries sustained. From what I’ve heard, the worst anybody under Seamus’ command has been hurt was a broken leg from a freak accident before the operation had even begun, something about a stray tree falling on someone from a storm the night before._

__– Mike “Thatcher” Baker_ _

* * *

 

Seamus “Sledge” Cowden was by no means a small man. In fact, he was quite the opposite, standing at over six feet and weighing over two-hundred pounds, he was the tallest man on Team Rainbow’s roster, second only to Kaid. Hand-picked by Thatcher, he was the older man’s preferred second in command due to his strategic mind and moral values. Despite all this, he was a gentle giant, often helping (usually the ~~shorter~~ ~~~~more vertically challenged ones) others in times of struggle, like meal times, in which he would pick them up and place them closer to the kitchen, or during training and real scenarios, where he would help carry them to higher positions (he had once placed Ying on his shoulders so that she could place her Candelas on the ceiling, which made for a surprisingly deadly trick).

Being the soft man he was, Cowden enjoyed using his spare time to read and practice quilting, yes _that_ quilting, giving the handmade blankets to other operators during wintertime, especially around Christmas, when temperatures would drop to or below 45°F. Sadly, between training and helping others, he had little to no time to pursue his hobbies, and even if he did, it was almost always ruined by the younger Brits barging into his room in search of his stash of whisky or other goodies he had kept hidden for his “relaxation time”. One time James had stolen his kilt while he was gone on a mission, before proceeding to parade around base wearing nothing but said garment and his gas mask, which resulted in nothing but multiple sessions of therapy for about half the operators and a harsh chastising courtesy of Baker.

So instead of reading or quilting, seventy percent of his free time was sent chasing James and Mark around in an attempt to recover stolen items, while the rest was really devoted to catching up with friends in and out of Rainbow, and more importantly, his family back in the Scottish Highlands. As many would attest, Cowden was fiercely loyal to those he cared about, and very protective of those he took under his wing. At one point Blackbeard had constantly teased Mozzie about his height, until Seamus had towered over the SEAL, daring him to “tease the lad _one_ more time, and we’ll see what happens”.

Such an encounter had hurt the American’s pride, and out of spite, he had went along and joked about it one more time, out of the Scot’s range, or so he thought. The next day, he had woken up to a bare face, his signature beard shaved clean off. Said ordeal had led to him refusing to leave him room for two days, Meghan reluctantly bringing him food everyday, and another two weeks worth of teasing and hassling until it had somewhat grown back. Needless to say, nobody dared to taunt anybody under Sledge’s protection after that.

To say this protectiveness had been crucial on the field would be an understatement. During an attack on a gas station in Australia, a small group of terrorists had holed themselves up in the garage with a primed chemical bomb, forcing them to bring in Thermite in a hasty attempt to breach the reinforced garage doors. While they were waiting, Ash had decided to scout off and and see if she could find another entry point and pick off stragglers on the way without a partner, a mistake that nearly cost her life. As she was clearing a particular bedroom on the first floor, she was hit by stray fire, one that passed dangerously close to an artery. 

An unsuppressed shot was nothing new, since some of the terrorists were bound to be able shoot back before being killed, but Cowden had felt something wrong, so he swiftly made his way to her last know position, quietly radioing her to get a status report; no response. Despite encountering heavy resistance, Cowden had successfully rescued the FBI operator, Ash herself only sustaining mild blood loss. As written in his after-action report:

_“I’m not actually quite sure what happened after I started for ~~Eliza~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Agent Cohen. According to her, I had ‘busted through the wall like a fuckin’ superhero’. While I find this highly unrealistic, she got out alive, which is the primary objective; the biohazards can wait as long as my men are all safe.”_

* * *

 

Daily life on Hereford Base for Seamus was hectic, to say the least. Whenever he wasn’t chasing James or chatting with friends, he was probably the tactical controller for training missions. Despite his love for being in the heat of the mission, he was more than willing to put his wishes aside if it meant filling his roster space for a more suited operator, like Thermite or Hibana, both of which he was good friends with due to their positions as hard breachers. Despite being an attacker, Cowden had proven himself worthy in the eyes of the defenders on multiple occasions. During a training mission, Six had decided to switch things up by swapping Blue and Orange Team’s tactical controllers, which at the time was Maestro and Sledge, which had sparked a friendly competition. The first three rounds, Orange Team had been utterly dominated, until Cowden had finally pulled himself together, reining in a team consisting of Bandit, Echo, Mute, Caviera, and Valkyrie. With that, they had successfully denied any attempts at defusing, turning the game around. After the morale boosting win, he had managed to turn the tides, allowing Orange Team to steal the victory.

During an unexpectedly long deployment to secure a French chalet, they had been forced to hunker down, the only capable chef being Yumiko. Once, whilst helping her ~~cook~~ heat up canned soup, he had managed to burn it, the broth barely salvaged to be used as a slightly charred sauce for noodles the SAT attacker had actually made. After that ordeal, anyone that had been deployed with him had decided to stay a safe distance away from any of the Scotsman’s culinary creations. Said disaster had been so ‘utterly disgusting’ to Pulse he had decided, with the help of Thermite, to put up a few posters telling of the kitchen nightmare. 

_To the operators of Team Rainbow:_

_Whatever happens, try to_ avoid _Seamus’ food! While I was trapped with my teammates in the Chalet, Seamus had managed to burn soup. No I am not kidding, he burnt_ soup! _The only display of a culinary disaster that I’ve seen that was worse than that was James’ attempt at peach cobbler._

 _Now remember, because I will probably never get to say this ever again, do_ not _eat Seamus’ food!_

_Signed, Jack Estrada, FBI SWAT_

Needless to say, most people got to see the poster before it was taken down. Unfortunately, the nerds did not get the message, and most of them paid the price for it. ~~Mute and Twitch got food poisoning~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this story is now a profiling, let me know which operators you’d like to see next! Comments are greatly appreciated, and they help as motivation to get new chapters out quickly.
> 
> Edit: So a little unexpected mishap occurred right after posting this. So the end notes of last chapter decided to pop up here, so please ignore that. Hopefully this won’t happen again. Sorry about that guys.


	3. Yumiko “Hibana” Imagawa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter, so I’d like to apologize to Ryujiton for the sub par chapter. Next I’ll be working on Rook, since oozbub has requested it.
> 
> Also, before I forget, big thanks to Mandrake, who brought up the “Pulse’s Heart” charm, which actually plays a part in this chapter.

_Specialist Imagawa is one of the hardest workers I’ve met in my entire time working for not only the Marines and FBI, but also in Rainbow. Her dedication to constantly improving not only her X-Kairos, but also herself, mentally and physically allows her to always stay at the top of her game. At the pace she works at, her method of ‘hard breaching’ may become more efficient than mine, and that’s saying tons, considering I had an entire engineering team working with me, while she had only yours truly and herself to craft that beauty of a breacher. The fact that the X-Kairos works is extraordinary in and of itself; a 40mm grenade launcher modified to propel six exothermic pellets capable of destroying steel-reinforced walls is an engineering miracle, considering the heavy modifications the launcher itself endured. If I hadn’t worked on the project myself, I never would’ve imagined that the 40mm was even capable of being modded that heavily without ~~adding a shit ton of weight~~ being incredibly heavy, but there it was, a simple seven pounds and weight efficient. _

_Besides her near merciless work ethic, her leadership skills on and off the field are invaluable when it comes to her extensive tactical training and skills. From what I’ve seen and read from her service jacket, she has a tactical mind to rival Cowden’s. She operates at a pace that’s not too fast for ops that prefer to move a little slower, like Montagne, but not too slow that she’ll hinder those that wanna just rush the objective, like Ash. Not only that, but her synergy with other operators is incredible. Despite having completely opposite roles, I’ve seen Yumiko work amazingly well with other defenders, notably Vigil, who is a certified loner, and Rook, alongside Maestro and Tachanka, the three of whom have very friendly and outgoing demeanors._

_– Specialist Trace, FBI SWAT_

* * *

 

Throughout Yumiko Imagawa’s life, a certain cultural identity had been ingrained in her mind, one that she had constantly been reminded of during her time working in Japan’s police force, and later in the Aichi Prefectural Police Department Special Unit.

A woman of few fears, Imagawa climbed the ranks with relative ease, her natural charisma in addition to varied expertise allowing her to eventually be recommended for reassignment to Team Rainbow, where she became fast friends with most, if not all of the already existing tenants, especially the FBI SWAT. Her knowledge on tubular assault tactics was often shared with Ash, whom she became close friends with, and fluency in seven languages gave her a connection with Castle. The other two she needed no introduction to, seeing as she had already known the two from previous occasions: Thermite from her time collaborating with him on the X-Kairos project, and Pulse from her time studying advanced passive interrogation tactics* with him at Quantico.

* * *

 

Despite being immensely grateful for being selected to join Rainbow, Imagawa often mourned the sudden cutoff from her homeland and family, along with her sense of cultural identity. Of course she loved the constant flow of new faces and experiences, but as more and more operators were drafted onto the ever-growing roster, she felt her feeling of belonging within the Japanese culture fade, despite Masaru’s constant reassurance that her identity was _not_ being lost, but rather “introduced to others”. Speaking of the SAT defender, Enatsu was most likely her closest link to home, the two having worked together for several years. Whenever she was feeling lost, he was likely her first stop, assuming he was home, at least, not only because of the convenience (all CTU’s had their own sub-wing, with a small living room connected to their own rooms, almost like an apartment), but because of his understanding of cultural heritage, and its personal importance to Yumiko.  Often times when both of them knew they were going to be home for more than two days, they would make homemade ramen, buying whatever ingredients they could collect from nearby markets, and importing packages from Japan if more Western grocers didn’t have said ingredients (read: _real_ soy sauce, where all ingredients came from Japan itself, and was fermented in the renowned Chubu region). Sometimes, if ~~Masaru accidentally told others~~ word got out, they would just prepare more (forty-eight servings worth), and serve the entire base, but only if they got at least other ten operators to help them in the kitchen. However, most oftentimes the meal would be shared with just themselves or a few guests, their more consistent visitors being Tze Long, Grace, and Jack.

* * *

 

Whenever Yumiko wasn’t in the mood for social interaction, which was pretty consistently Mondays and Wednesdays, she would retreat to the workshop, where interaction was minimal, besides the occasional conversation between the engineers on how to fix a problem with their gadget, more specifically Marius and his Magpies. One thing Yumiko was surprised by when she first came into the workshop was that most of the usual occupants were shockingly good cooks or bakers. Almost everyday, someone would bring a snack or meal for everyone else, along with extras for any visitors, which they stored in the fridge towards the back of the room. Thinking back on it, it explained why every time they asked for more funding or replacement tools, they would get new ones within a week.

On the topic of interaction, besides her distinct friendships with Masaru and Grace, one notable person Yumiko often chatted with was Jack Estrada, along with Jordan Trace. Whenever the trio had spare time, they would go out to local attractions, or if they were absolutely sure they had at least three days to themselves, they would travel abroad, the two Americans operatives having once taken their Japanese counterpart to their homeland to watch a demolition derby tournament, due to ~~Imagawa and~~ Trace’s sometimes destructive urges.  Once, on a trip Estrada and Imagawa had once taken to Hong Kong, Jack had accidentally slipped a proposal to “go out for a nice dinner one day”, which had really sounded more like “wouldyouliketogooutonadinner?”, much to Yumiko’s amusement. Although she had accepted, she had decided to tease him whenever they were alone on it for months to come, until she had unintentionally teased him about it in front of the other American ops while out at a local pub, alerting everyone except Jordan and Craig, bless their ignorant, drunk stupidity. The others really had to explain that the two were now a couple later that night, which really was _not_ easy considering both were severely ~~hydrated~~ under the influence. Despite basically every op trying to throughly explain their situation as modestly as possible, they really didn’t understand until Jack had just blurted out that they “were a thing now”, causing not only himself, but also Yumiko, to flush a deep red. Indeed, ~~they were~~ Jack was not the most subtle ~~couple~~ person, despite his usual cool demeanor while on the field.

* * *

 

_Jack and Yumi being a thing really doesn’t surprise me, to be completely honest. Ever since we had recruited her alongside Enatsu, I had noticed little things they would do together, thing sonly close friends would do. Quite hilariously, Jack had actually tried making a move multiple times before their trip to Hong Kong. Whether Yumiko didn’t notice or pretended not to notice is still a mystery. Needless to say, Jack’s pick-up line game is really not as clear se as it used to be. Regardless, the two are inseparable, loving to the point Jack had asked Masaru for_ his _blessing to marry Yumiko, seeing as he was her pseudo older brother. Not only that, but when Enatsu had relented, he had asked him to create them a specialized charm alongside a classic wedding ring for the lucky lady. Funnily enough, Masaru had been kind enough to engrave Yumiko’s name in Japanese on the heart charm, dutifully naming it ‘Pulse’s Heart’._

_– Agent Cohen, FBI SWAT_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Absolute bullshit. As far as I’m concerned, there is not such thing, but seeing as Yumiko has trained with FBI, may as well add some extra exposition to why they’re friends.
> 
> Like I said earlier, this chapter is a little shorter than the last two, but to be completely honest, I really couldn’t think of much, but I hope this is good enough until I can pull myself back together for the next chapter, which should be Rook. Again, if you want to see anyone else, please comment below, or I'll never know who you folks wanna see ;)


	4. Julian “Rook” Nizan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a bit longer, except literally half of it is a transcript, but I think it’s good enough.

_Julian is one of the kindest, most trusting and compassionate people I’ve ever met. I quite fondly remember when I had first met him during selection for Team Rainbow, when he had walked towards me, asking my name. Kateb, I had told him, thinking it would be enough to be considered satisfactory._

_“No, your full name. Wait! I think I know! Dr. Gustave Kateb?”_

_I had chuckled, nodding my confirmation, before turning back to Gilles to talk about god knows what. After selection, I had realized that we were in the same unit, and in turn I would likely be seeing him more often. One of the first things I do as a doctor is attempt to befriend my teammates, so I set out to get to know Emmanuelle and Julian, since I had rationalized that I likely would be interacting with them the most. Before I even had the chance, however, before I even had the chance to set up my medical office, Julian had stumbled in, clutching his hand. Apparently, he had tried to bake a cake for the GIGN to celebrate their approval to join Rainbow, but he had burnt his hand when he had forgotten to use a mitt to bring the cake pan out of the oven. For days after I had patched his hand back up, he had followed me around, constantly asking if I needed help. At first I was slightly annoyed, but I eventually got used to it. Now, he still drops in the office on a regular basis, whether it be to bandage a wound, ask if I needed any help, or just to have a chat._

_Over the years, I’ve noticed little things, like his ferocity to protect his team, and his almost puppy-like trait to always attempt befriending new operators, even if it doesn’t always go well the first time. When Echo and Hibana had first joined, he had tried befriending Masaru by gifting him an anime body pillow. Understandably, Masaru was a bit mad, giving him a relatively calm and quick, but still stern lecture, telling him at the end to not talk to him for two weeks, and to come back with a more suitable gift, and then he would reconsider. Julian had come back to the dorms visibly upset, still clutching the body pillow. When Gilles had asked what happened, he explained quite throughly, his voice seeming like it was constantly on the verge of breaking. Quite dutifully, however, he had kept his distance for two weeks, before going back, one hand holding a vintage bottle of sake, the other a large container of draft Sapporo beer. According to Nizan, his mood had visibly lightened, clapping him on the shoulder while muttering something along the lines of, “not bad for a Frenchman”. Now, the two are close friends, sometimes sharing jokes. Truth be told, I’m not sure what happened to the pillow, but I suspect Julian may have kept it._

_Do not mistake me, Nizan has a heart of gold, but I fear his ability to blindly trust anyone he encounters may affect him on the field, or worse yet, cause him to be injured._

_– Specialist Kateb, GIGN_

* * *

 

Ever since Julian was a child, he aspired to work in a field in which he could help others, working hard in and out of school to achieve his dreams. The youngest child of a working-class family, Nizan excelled in sports, especially track and field. Once he had graduated secondary school at age eighteen, he enlisted in the _Gendarmerie Nationale,_ and later found himself in the Highway Patrol unit. During basic training, he discovered a natural aptitude for firearms, especially submachine guns and handguns. Years later, when he had honed his skill set to as far as he could push himself, the GIGN took notice, recruiting him to be one the youngest GIGN operators of his class. Thanks to his already fit form from time in the Highway Patrol unit and in track and field, he breezed through training, and was placed in the Security and Protection force, where he specialized in hostage protection through the use of his R1N “Rhino” armor plates.

Happy-go-lucky and all too trusting, Julian is easily distracted, and if nobody is there to keep him on track, he has a tendency to drift off of the objective, sometimes becoming a roamer despite his team _probably_ needing another anchor. Although classified as a heavy armored operator, he still manages himself, sometimes even taking out a cluster of enemies, so the others don’t really complain much. Despite his youthfulness and confident outside, he often held little “therapeutic” sessions with Doc, where he unleashed a torrent of insecure thoughts. He trusted the older man so much, he told him nearly everything, leaning onto him if he felt unsure of himself, even though many saw him as an emotional anchor during operations. Once he had told Gustave about his first week on the team, when Mike had cussed him out for forgetting to out down his armor plates. The entire practice session he had held himself up, keeping a brave face on, but when he had gotten back into his room, he had broken down, a sense of shame washing over him. Most people teased him about his ability to trust nearly everyone, and that really took a toll on him. During Operation White Noise, he had mentally shut himself away, which multiple people took notice of, worrying them immensely. When Elias had asked during lunch about it, he got up with a word and just _left_. Multiple days consisting of hours of Doc’s special form of “therapy” had eventually opened him back up, but after that incident, nobody had teased him, and anyone that did would have to face four other GIGN operators (Lion had joined their little group after he had learned about the slight bullying and had made amends with Doc).

Despite all this, Rook still keeps a happy face on, doing anything he can to help others in need, and that treatment extended to animals as well. If Caesar Milan and Jackson Galaxy had a love child that was French and had joined the military, Julian was it. He had a natural affinity with dogs and cats, sometimes even picking up strays and taking them into Hereford Base. When Bandit had first discovered his little pet utopia, he had threatened to tell Thatcher, but after ~~Rook had bribed him with an orange tabby~~ some reconsideration, he had changed his mind, but still urged Nizan to come clean to avoid repercussions if anyone else found out and ratted him out. So he did, bringing in a little corgi with him as he entered Mike’s office.

“Ahem, Mike?”

“What do you want, kid?” Thatcher, the busy man he was, didn’t even bother looking up from his stack of paperwork.

Offering the puppy towards the older man, he mumbled something along the lines of, “Do you want a Welsh corgi?”

Now that had gotten his attention. “Could you run that by me again, mate?”

Finally mustering whatever courage he had, he puffed his chest a little, arms outstretched with a puppy in his hands. “Do you want a corgi puppy, sir?”

Rubbing his temples, Baker groaned. “Is this your way of announcing your little stray sanctuary?”

The French defender blinked. “Wait, you know already?”

“Yeah, I’ve known since you brought the Australian shepherd in, and yes, I’m fine with it, as long as they don’t cause any trouble.”

“O–oh. Thank you, Mike. I appreciate it. Also, can I give them out to the others? I think they may make good presents for others’ birthdays or Christmas.”

The Brit nodded. “Sure, but the same rules apply. Anything happens, it’s on you, no matter who’s holding it.”

And with that, Julian Nizan had conquered the bane of Hereford Base with a Welsh Corgi. Over the span of a few weeks, almost every CTU had a pet, and the overall morale had been significantly raised. Just as  a side job, Rook had even taken to training the pets to do specific things, like to retrieve drinks or other items. Now, his smile is as bright as the afternoon sun, and his joyous laughing can be heard throughout base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was it. If you guys have any con. crit or suggestions, feel free to tell be down below!
> 
> Any suggestions are accepted, so you can ask me who you would like to as well, silent reader!
> 
> Next should be Zofia, but it may be slightly delayed due to my birthday coming up and other family matters.


	5. Zofia Bosak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, Zofia Bosak. Not gonna lie, I had fun writing this, seeing as how her past and relationship with Ela can be played out. Another thing that was fun was seeing her develop as a mother figure for the younger ops.
> 
> Anyways, I’m not gonna keep y’all for too long. Enjoy!

_The elder Bozak? If I had to choose one operator in the entire base to watch my six, it’s her. She’s tough as nails and doesn’t take bullshit from anyone. Not only that, but her gadget makes soft breach and clearing much easier for us attackers. Thanks to the KS79 Lifeline, we can easily breach anything that hasn’t been reinforced and concuss anyone in the room within three seconds of the initial grenade being fired. Combined with my RED MK III “Spectre”, we are capable of destroying any anti-ordinance systems, like Jäger’s Magpies before entry to ensure all goes smoothly._

_Zofia and Ela have a very noticeable rivalry, but as far as I know, nobody knows the cause of it all besides Valkyrie, Vigil, and themselves. Oddly enough, Zofia may have chosen Vigil as a confidant due to their deep-seated mistrust in nearly anybody they see as strangers, and therefore threats; perhaps it’s because of their shared possibilities of having mild PTSD, although both hide it remarkably well. Ela’s choice is rather simple: the two are quite close after what had happened in Operation Orange Sky, so it’s only fair that she would choose Meghan to confide in. Either way, despite multiple operators having tried to crack them, neither have spilt anything, and I suspect we may never know, unless one decides to come clean._

_– Specialist Weiss, GSG9_

* * *

 

Anyone that has ever laid eyes on Zofia Bosak for even a split second would know that she was not a woman to trifle with. Even without considering her piercing glare, she was easily one of the tallest women on base, only adding to her intimidating stature. One look from the Polish lady would be enough to break down the strongest-willed men, even the likes of Blackbeard or Sledge. Once, when the entire team was out at a pub on one of the rare days everyone was home, a rather built rugby player had decided to make a move on the older Bosak, apparently unaware that she was already married. Despite multiple warnings from other operators who had huddled closer to her in an attempt to ward him off, he decided to press on, becoming more and more flirtatious as the night went on. Eventually, Zofia had had enough, deciding to flip him over the shoulder, pressing a firm knee down on his chest, which had deflated faster than his hopes to get in bed with her that night. Quickly flashing her ring, she had given him not only two broken ribs when pressing down on his chest, but a broken nose when she had jabbed him straight in the center of his face. Thankfully, when he got back up, Seamus and Mark had already been halfway through dragging him out before Zofia could get the chance to finish what he had started. An upside to consistently going to the same pub for years was that they knew the bartender and owner well, so he had let them off without a word, swearing to speak in their defense if the man ever decided to press charges.

* * *

 

Although a rather simple person, Zofia was a rather mysterious operator, considering how closed off she was about her childhood. Many have tried to befriend her, and despite having been on the team for about a year and a half, the elder Bozak had a very tight circle of friends, preferring to keep to herself and said friends rather than to be loud and boisterous, like others ~~ahem, Trace and Jenson when drunk.~~

Somehow, Mei Lin had managed to befriend to Pole, perhaps through the sheer power of her easy-going nature, or their shared experiences. Although Mei Lin was considerably more open about her past, and a pretty damn good listener, it took time to crack Zofia, especially when she had probably spent years evading questions about her father’s suicide in order to keep her from being sent to a therapist. Eventually, she had begun to crack, slowly revealing more and more about her past, recalling her childhood trauma, when three boys had almost drowned her for “fun”, and its lasting effects henceforth. Even more so, when asked about her relationship with Ela, she became rather, mournful. She spoke of her attempts to reconcile, only to be shut out down despite multiple attempts to change the younger sister’s mind. “I only wish to apologize for my past mistakes, and hopefully to reestablish our long-broken relationship”, she had told the Cantonese operator. She recalled with pride her secret lessons with Ela whenever their father wasn’t home, showing her non-lethal techniques to eliminate opponents if any dared push her boundaries. However, when asked about her father, she replied with an almost bitter tone, cursing him for pushing her younger sister too far, and for not helping her when she needed it most, or even allowing them to have any semblance to a normal life. Even now, after all the rejection and familial spats, she had admitted that in her attempts to make amends, she had probably pushed her limits too far, only driving her farther away, but she remained firm in her belief that it was only to try to reconnect, and not to inflict any harm.

* * *

 

A devoted family woman, Zofia spent almost all free time with her family, even if the military was almost all she had for most of her life. Despite her attempts to keep a stable life with her family, it was a mostly upward struggle, having to juggle between being on base and out on missions with family life. Luckily, her husband understood, having been in the armed forces himself, making the process significantly easier. As many would attest, the older Bozak was a solid maternal figure for much of the base, almost a mother hen for many of the younger operators, especially those who were going through personal troubles. When Mark had gotten the call that his mother had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized, he had broken down in the middle of the mess hall, and in an instant, all of the workshop regulars had huddled near him, even Masaru, who was usually more emotionally disconnected. When Zofia had walked over, many of the others were rather surprised, but she had brushed them off, instead giving the youngest Brit a comforting hug, which had somehow worked better than other methods ~~like ice cream~~. Ever since, any of the younger operators had taken to her being their maternal anchor, choosing to go see her for counseling first, instead of someone more qualified, like Doc.

* * *

 

_When I had first gotten a call that my Mum had suffered a stroke, I remember breaking down, probably shedding a few tears. I think the blokes (workshop regulars) had come over and given me hugs and ice cream(?), but what I know for sure was that the older Bozak had come over and given me a hug, and I had felt a sense of peace, like when Mum gave me hugs when I was little. I’m quite certain that after that disaster, most of us have just decided to go see her instead of Kateb (no offense Doc). Something about her radiates comfort, like when a mother comforts their child, there’s this special sense of safety. Thankfully, Zofia is an excellent listener, and give amazing advice, so most of prefer going to her first for help. Once, I recall James almost accidentally calling her ‘Mum’, which had really gotten a laugh out of all of us._

_– Specialist Chandar, SAS_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s all for Zofia. 
> 
> I’m currently thinking of whenever we complete a set of CTU’s, I may do a quick headcannon chapter as a bit of an intermission. Still not sure if it’s a good idea, so I’ll let you guys decide. Should I include quick HC chapters whenever we finish an entire CTU?
> 
> Next up should be IQ, but if you’d like to see anybody else feel free to let me know down in the comments!


	6. Monika “IQ” Weiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately this chapter is incredibly short due to the lack of information provided for IQ. I’m not really blaming Ubisoft for this, but rather my lack of imagination. Ok, maybe I’m blaming Ubi just a little bit for not giving more info on really any of the original 20. Hopefully this is still sufficient until I get the next chapter out.

_Monika? Oh, I assure you, she is_ not _one to challenge to anything. Ever since she was little, I’ve heard, she’s had the persistence of a pup looking for attention. Before working as a UC, I had seen her once or twice, and every encounter had been in the workshop, where she would modify her ‘Spectre’. When I had seen her in selection for Rainbow, I had instantly known that she would make it. Her tenacity and perseverance are her two strongest traits; without it, I doubt she would’ve ever made it as far as she has._

_Without her, I’m sure Marius and I would have wreaked much more havoc than we already have. She’s like a little sister and a mother rolled into one. I’m absolutely positive that any of us GSG9 boys would kill for her, and we would most certainly match and double the pain anyone inflicted upon her back onto them._

_– Specialist Brunsmeier, GSG9_

* * *

Hard working and persistent are words often used to describe Monika Weiss, and they would not be wrong. Ever since she was young, she worked hard to achieve her goals, never taking no for an answer. Having been introduced to it early in her life, Weiss developed a knack for technology, and by the time she was sixteen, she had already completed an internship with a local tech company. Deciding to push herself further, she enrolled in MIT and Caltech, where she received an ivy-league education in electrical engineering. After graduation, she spent a year of traveling abroad, until she set her sights on joining the Bundespolizei (BPOL), Germany’s federal police. An outstanding overachiever and incredibly adaptive, Specialist Weiss easily overcomes most obstacles she encounters, and if she doesn’t, it never ends well for said obstacle, even if it was a human. Once, when she had tried to grab a bag of flour in the kitchen, Craig had decided to be an ass and hold it out of her reach, teasing her and egging her on. Eventually, the German had had enough, so she proceeded to kick him where the sun doesn’t shine, which was more than enough to persuade him to hand over the flour. Meghan had just so happened to walk in right before it had all occurred, and when he doubled over, she shook her head. “Shouldn’t have teased the feisty one,” she had said, before walking off to get Chul Kyung to help drag him out of the kitchen.

* * *

 

Not unlike other CTU’s, the entirety of the GSG9 team was incredibly close knit, but the German’s relationship was known to be remarkably close. Not only did Elias provide an emotional anchor, Monika was a sort of little sister to the other three, and you can bet they would go through hell and back if it meant helping her. If she wasn’t being a little sister, then she most certainly was being a mother hen, keeping Marius and Dominic out of trouble. If not for her intervention, the duo was sure to have had hordes of enemies. One such occasion was when Dom had dared Marius to rig Eliza’s grenade launcher with confetti during a training mission; had IQ not found out before the training sim had begun, Dom might’ve had his face beaten in by the Israeli. In another incident, Dom had somehow managed to rig a poker game into Tze Long’s favor, unbeknownst to the Cantonese defender. While nobody had actually noticed, the former UC’s big mouth had given him away, much to the combined fury and disappointment of Mike. Tze Long, however, was more struggling to hold back tears of laughter when the older Brit had bitch-slapped the German.

Long before Rainbow, however, Monika had known many of the other GSG9 operators, especially Elias, which had made their reconnection much easier than with Dom or Marius, the likes of which she had only known of because of in-unit gossip. According to the talk of the GSG9, Marius had almost been court-martialed when he had directly disobeyed orders and flown a chopper to save a close-protection squad that was guarding a high-level politician, the likes of which were pinned down by heavy enemy fire. Although he had saved the entirety of the team and the politician, he was almost been court-martialed for it, since he had nearly destroyed the helicopter he had flown. According to some, _sources,_ the daring play was how he had gotten Team Rainbow’s attention, and a few commendations for the act of bravery.

* * *

 

A workshop regular, or nerd, as many of the other operators had lovingly dubbed them, Monika was bound to meet many others with skill sets similar to hers. Just days after Rainbow’s reformation, she had already befriended Twitch, who had also taken an interest in Hereford Base’s expansive workshop. Together, they helped each other work out kinks in their gadgets, and even modified them. Once the SAT had been brought into the fold, Weiss had been the first (besides Rook) to attempt befriending Echo, who at the time had been much more closed off than in recent times. After weeks of her constant attempts, he finally caved, and gave her a chance. Needless to say, she didn’t disappoint. After years of collaboration, they had eventually found a way for IQ to detect Echo’s PDA whenever it was active, which had given her an edge in certain situations.

_Monika? Oh, she’s a pain in the ass alright. It’s only been a few months and I already regret helping her RED MKIII detect my PDA when it’s active. Besides that, she’s a good person, I guess. If you didn’t already know her, I suppose one could mistake her confidence for pride that’s gone too far, and it’s understandable. Whenever she’s on the field, she hides her worry for her boys with an aura of control and confidence, but when you really get to know her, you quickly realize it’s all a façade to off-put her concern. Then again, you really wouldn’t know unless you were close with her._

_Specialist Enatsu, SAT_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s really it. Sad, I know.
> 
> Anyways, I do believe either Fuze or Caveira next, so hopefully that will be out soon to compensate. 
> 
> Again, sorry for the really short chapter. If you’d like to see any other operators, let me know in the comments, because I have as many brain cells as a rock, and I lack imagination XD


	7. Taina “Caveira” Pereira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ll be honest with you guys and galls here. The reason why this took so long was that I was a lazy piece of shit, and I really didn’t want to use any brain cells to think. 
> 
> Because of that, this chapter really sucks. 
> 
> Sorry, just had to put that out there. Real notes will come later in the footnotes

_Caveira is one scary motherfucker, mark my words. If I had to pick the most intimidating and terrifying operator, I’d pick her with a shadow of a doubt. One time we brought a captured White Mask in for interrogation and despite everything we did, he wouldn’t break, so we just gave up and brought in Caveira. Not ten minutes later, she came out with a clipboard full of intel and other notes. When we looked inside to check up on the guy, he had a few teeth knocked out and both his trigger fingers sliced clean off. After that, we just decided to call her in immediately whenever we got a new capture. Between us, Jordan and I call her the Sneaky Bitch, but don’t tell her I said that, I’m pretty sure she’d have my head. Even Chul Kyung was afraid of her (before he made peace with her, of course), and he’s usually got the emotional capacity of a rock. One time, she had screamed at a whole other person, and he visibly cringed. You could really see the fear in his eyes, especially since he just gotten comfortable enough to keep his mask off around others. The event had almost gotten him to put it back on, he was so scared._

_– Specialist Jenson, Navy SEALS_

* * *

 

Not much is known of Caveira’s past, only that she was at one point a criminal informant for BOPE, before joining them as an interrogator. While most people tend to stray away from her, a handful of brave souls have attempted to make friends with her, some notable people being Ash,

Ying, and surprisingly enough, Gridlock and Vigil. Apparently the Aussie had mentioned something about “bat-shit crazies”, before walking off to introduce herself. On the other hand, Vigil had just started sitting next to her more often. When confronted by Buck, he had muttered softly something about not getting on her bad side, and protecting Grace and her big mouth.

When asked to describe Caveira in one word, many operators would choose “intimidating”, “antisocial”, or “terrifying”. While all are somewhat accurate, what don’t know is that her intimidation tactics are methods of shielding her more vulnerable side from harm, a tactic she had been using since she had seen her eldest brother killed before her eyes in the favelas. Although she has tried on multiple occasions to break the habit, it only got worse when her younger brother was captured by the Santa Blanca, forcing her to go AWOL to save him with the help of the Ghosts of Bolivia. It was only after the Bolivia incident that Taina and Emmanuelle had announced their relationship* to the others, with only a select few having already know, such as Montagne and Capitāo, both serving as father figures for the younger operators. Unfortunately for Pereira, dating one of the lead engineers on Team Rainbow meant that she too would have to become friends with the nerds, much to her dismay. Thankfully, most of them were fairly nice people, only cheerfully reminding her that if she ever even _considered_ breaking Emmanuelle’s heart, she would have the full fury of cluster grenade _Yokai_ up her ass in a heartbeat. Surprisingly enough, she had made acquaintances with Vigil and Dokkaebi, the latter having almost instantly invited her to their dorms for the former’s stash of _soju_. Thankfully, Emmanuelle had swooped in fast enough to save the Brazilian (and Chul Kyung’s _soju_ )from having to accept or decline the offer.

Despite multiple therapy sessions with almost all of the world’s most renowned physiatrists, Pereira had never given any more information about her past except that of which most had already known of, the only new facts they had learned of was that of her oldest brother’s murder, and her subsequent distrust of most anyone and almost uncalled for violence. According to Vicente, her brother had been stabbed to death by a group of gang members while they had been walking home from a local market, right before her eyes. Due to the childhood trauma, she rarely trusted anyone growing up, and was incredibly harsh on anybody who dared stand in her way. Her trauma-induced violence is often triggered by any mentions of her brother, the gang involved, or gangs or any organized crime syndicates in general, which explains her unnatural ferocity towards the White Masks, and her ~~rather brutal~~ unconventional methods of ~~torture~~ extracting information.

According to information provided by a Ghost, codenamed Nomad, Pereira’s time AWOL in Bolivia was a gruesome one to say the least. On her road to rescue her younger brother, Caveira murdered multiple Santa Blanca cartel members, the confirmed kill count ranging as high as one hundred ninety three  cartel-men that were savagely killed in her path of destruction. With the assistance of Specialist Pichon, it took the specialized team nearly two weeks to track her down, where their first encounter was of her interrogating a cartel lieutenant for intel on her brother’s whereabouts. Needless to say, Caveira is a relentless warrior, unwilling to grasp the idea of defeat, and vicious to the end; the perfect hunter.

* * *

 

_The lady with the skull paint? Yeah, she’s one tough bitch, I’ll say that much. Before she came to Bolivia, all I knew was that there was a secret team called Rainbow, and apparently one of their operators was an elite interrogator, good enough to break even SEALs I’ve heard. I never really thought much of it until ~~Bowman~~ my handler patched me through with Operator Twitch, who gave me a quick briefing of the situation. Even tho it’s been a little while, I remember our first contact was near a SB _

_(Santa Blanca) base, where she was interrogating a lieutenant that was posted at a checkpoint. She was holding her knife on the poor guy’s throat, and pressing hard enough to draw blood. If she hadn’t clamped her hand over his mouth, I’m pretty sure he would’ve been screaming his head off._

_– ~~Lieutenant Colonel Perryman~~  Ghost Lead, Group for Specialized Tactics_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * So this may be a tad controversial, but in Wildlands, Twitch has a line in which she tells Cav something along the lines of ‘you know, when I said going out more often, this isn’t what I meant’. Just had to clarify, since it heavily implies they’re in a relationship, and I don’t want to have to defend this decision.
> 
> So that is the sad, sad chapter that is Caveira. Again, I apologize for the crappy chapter and long wait, but I’ve come to the decision that not all chapters will be 1k long, some will and may be as short as 500 words, depending on whether or not I can think fo anything, but hopefully it won’t come to that. Next should be Montagne, Twitch, or someone else. Honestly I made a spreadsheet on all the ops and highlighted the ones I need to do, just to remember XD
> 
> Anyways, always feel free to ask for an op, and remember, once we finish a CTU, I’ll do a headcanon chap!


	8. Craig “Blackbeard” Jenson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s Blackbeard, in all his nerfed glory! I’m actually quite happy with this one, seeing as it’s about 1135 words, and pretty detailed. I think you guys and galls will like it. 
> 
> Without any further ado, please enjoy!

_Craig is a great guy, sure! I’ll tell you, when Chul Kyung first saw him waiting in front of Hereford, that was one of the only times I had actually seen his eyes light up in happiness. The big guy is one of the nicest people on base, always trying to make nice with the newbies (except Taina and Nøkk, he’s straight terrified of the two). When I had first arrived at Hereford, he was one of the first to help Chul Kyung and I acclimate to the new environment, and rest assured, having that beast of a man as your protection is one the greatest feelings on Earth ~~(have you seen his biceps??)~~. Without his help, I don’t think Hwa would’ve ever even _considered _taking his cap* off in front of anyone. Now, thanks to Jenson, the old man is comfortable enough to show his face to most operators, and he’s even learning how to socialize! It’ll take some time, but I have faith that eventually he’ll feel comfortable enough to not have to wear anything to hide himself to anyone, unless he really doesn’t trust them._

_– Specialist Nam, 707 th SMB_

* * *

 

Craig Jenson was by no means a quiet man, but if Hell’s gate broke free, he would be one of the first to throw himself at it, without any hesitation or second thought. Growing up in a middle-upper class family, Jenson’s family had no previous military history, his father a kinesiology professor and his mother a renowned lawyer. Until he had caught word about the Navy SEALs, he had considered a career in emergency medical services. At the age of twelve, he began training with his father’s help, and at eighteen, upon graduating high school, he enlisted in the Navy. After another four years of rigorous training and patience, he was eventually given the chance to join the SEALs, passing his class in the top five overall, and first in the marksmanship course. During SEAL training, he met Specialist Castellano, one of the first female SEALs to be invited to and pass training. During a training mission, Jenson’s fireteam, consisting of Castellano and two other recruits, the mock “terrorist hideout” was smoked out with tear gas, the participants not having been alerted of this beforehand. Thanks to Valkyrie’s quick thinking, the team was able to use the air filtration system to cycle out to CS gas, and the squad passed with flying colors. Ever since the training mission, the two has kept in somewhat consistent contact, especially during Operation Orange Sky, until the two were invited to join Rainbow, where their relationship only further developed, the two now best friends and an unstoppable duo on the field.

Boisterous and easygoing, Craig had found friends easily wherever he went, whether it be in BUD/S, Afghanistan, or Team Rainbow. Somehow, he had even managed to befriend Vigil, whom he described as ‘One of the quietest, most professional operators I’ve met in my entire career’.

* * *

 

A man of high moral values, Jenson often found himself conforming to other’s thoughts and needs before his own. When he had first arrived at Rainbow, his rifle shield was strong enough to withstand multiple shots from high caliber weaponry, and his rifle mount in the simulations had reflected that, until multiple defenders had begun to complain about it being overpowered. Pressured by many people, and not wanting to break any ties he had so quickly established with many of the already existing roster, he modified the simulated shield to be weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until it could barely survive two or three shots from most SMGs. Although he had made his simulated rifle shield weaker, his real mount was still just as powerful as the day he arrived, seeing as there was no reason to give the White Masks an advantage against them when on missions. Due to his repeated attempts at weakening his rifle mount, many other operators had begun lovingly dubbing him as ‘Nerfbeard’, a name he had once despised, but now wore with an ironic pride, similar to ‘Lord Tachanka’. Loyal to the grave, Craig Jenson is one of the few men on Earth that one could trust with their life with absolute certainty that he would do his best to keep them safe. On one of his tours in Afghanistan, Jenson had disobeyed direct orders to save a fellow SEAL who was pinned under enemy fire, ~~then Chief Petty Officer** Ward~~  whose name cannot be disclosed due to classified information. Thanks to his efforts, he was awarded a promotion to Chief Petty Officer (CPO), and a Silver Star for his bravery in combat. Another unseen benefit to this was that it was one of the leading factors as to why the Director had chosen him to go through screening for application to Rainbow.

* * *

 

_Jenson? That man saved my life in Afghanistan! If it hadn’t been for him pulling me out of that building, I may be in Arlington right now, six feet under. I had been in one of the abandoned buildings in the Helmand Province during Operation Panther’s Claw when I came under enemy fire. My spotter, a British Commando, was killed pretty quickly, RPG came right next to us, and he fell under the rubble. By some miracle, I had survived, but some shrapnel from a frag had imbedded itself into my thigh, so I was practically immobilized. Craig had been with a Marine patrol when they had gotten word of my team being pinned down in the city. The platoon had mobilized almost immediately, trying to get to my fireteam ASAP. By the time they had arrived, the real fight had just begun; old Russian hand grenades were being lobbed towards us and them, and a few had managed to grab ahold of some RPDs, so we were all basically pinned down. The Marines had tried to call for air support, but they said the zone was too hot; no can do, not until they had cleared the machine gunners and riflemen with the RPGs. The Mujahideen were closing in on my position, and by then I had run out of ammo on my MSR, and was solely relying on my M9 as protection, with only two full mags left. Somehow, Jenson had managed to break away from the others, even though all the fire was directed towards him as he ran. By a miracle, he had made it to me, and I had almost shot him, thinking he was a Taliban. He said ‘Hold on, I’m here to get you outta this shithole’, before picking me up and hauling ass back to the Marines. Thanks to him, I’m here today, happy as can be, operating on a mission now in Bolivia._

  * _~~Sergeant Major** Ward~~  Ghost Four- ‘Weaver’, Group for Specialized Tactics_



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Ok, I know the bio says he only feels comfortable behind his mask, but let's be serious now, do you really think he’ll wear the mask out in public? Of course not! So instead, I propose that he wears a cap, and just keeps his head down, so it’s still quite hard to see his face, in which if you wanted to you would have to lean all the way down, which would give hime enough time to avert his gaze again.
> 
> ** Notice how Weaver has two different ranks? Well, according to the Wildlands lore, since he is one of the only SEALs to make it into the Ghost teams, with the other know exception being Fury from the upcoming Breakpoint, which is technically an Army branch, he would need to be assigned an Army rank, which in his wiki page, is Sergeant Major, which is an E9. In the Navy, however, E9’s are called Senior Chief Petty Officers, or SCPOs. Anyways, I’m a military nerd, but it helps with writing, so sue me. As long as I’m making what I’m pretty sure is decently good content, I’m gonna keep adding these little things.
> 
> As always, if you enjoyed, drop a comment or kudos down below! If you have a request or would like to see another operator next, tell me in the comments. The more comments I get on an operator, the more likely they’ll come next, or the update will come sooner! 
> 
> Like always, I hope y’all have a good day/night!


	9. Jordan “Thermite” Trace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be the longest profile I’ve written since Sledge’s, so I think you guys are in for a treat. The only reason this wasn’t posted faster was because there was so much research I had to do. I had to ask family that was deployed to Iraq, had to consult the Internet in all it’s glorious wisdom, etc. Not much else to say, so I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also quick disclaimer, this does include quite graphic depictions of violence, so be warned.

_Trace is like a mule, stubborn as hell and nearly as hard-headed as one too. However, inside that thick skull of his, hides a brilliant mind. Had it not been for him, I doubt I would have ever been able to develop the X-Kairos to ever be as efficient as it is now. According to Eliza, he had a very mundane life up until he joined the Marines, where he was deployed to Iraq and served multiple tours as a fireteam leader and its demolition specialist. In Iraq, he had seen unspeakable things, and had burnt part of his hands during one of his tours._

_– Specialist Imagawa, SAT_

* * *

 

Jordan Trace had lived a rather cliché life before he had joined the Marines. A star quarterback for his football team, he had carried them to multiple championships, losing only one game by the time he had graduated. Bored with his current lifestyle, he joined the Marines, seeking adventure, a sense of belonging, and a chance to serve his country. Although renowned for its difficult basic training, Jordan got through it much easily than most others in his division, thanks to his already fit physique. He was eventually deployed to Iraq as a demolitions specialist, where he would begin his military life. Not even a month into his deployment, his convoy had been blown up by a string of IEDs, the combined explosions of the homemade bombs and the humvees had killed more than a quarter of his platoon, including their second lieutenant, who was leading the patrol and platoon. Caught under enemy fire, and with many of the survivors being critically injured, and only one corpsman to tend to them all, Trace and the rest of the still capable men found themselves surrounded. Quickly running out of ammo, and reinforcements almost two hours away, the men had to something, and quickly. By a miracle, Trace had found a weapon case, and inside, a M32 MGL, loaded with high impact explosive shells.

Thanks to quick wits and a lot of luck, Jordan had made it out alive, suffering minimal casualties from those that survived, although he knew he would have to be writing multiple letters home to the families of those who did not make it. While many of his teammates were grateful for his quick thinking, they weren’t the only ones to notice. Since their previous platoon leader had been killed in the firefight, the higher ups had decided to field promote him, his rank now staff sergeant, and a Bronze Star to be pinned to his chest when he got home.

When he got home, however, he soon found out that he missed the adrenaline rush of the battlefield, and soon re-enlisted for another tour. Four weeks later, he was already on a plane back to Iraq*. Despite having already seen much of his team killed on his first rotation, nothing could’ve prepared him for the horrors he would see first hand.

The first incident had been rather quick, occurring only two weeks after arriving back in Iraq again. While securing a terrorist-held home, he came face to face with an Iraqi child, chest strapped across with bricks of C4. Although he had tried to coax the child away, he had continued to rush into his group, accompanied by a local cluster of Iraqi National Guardsmen, initially killing all but one of the Iraqis in a  catastrophic explosion. Later that day, Trace had found out that the one Guard that had survived had died during the surgery to stabilize him. Up until then, he had only a brief experience of the horrors of war, but the crushing guilt of knowing he had failed to save someone he had sworn to protect had thrown him down the deepest depths of shame and self-wallowing.

The second had been worse than the last. While out on a joint patrol with a squad from the Army 503rdInfantry Regiment, one of the company humvees had encountered car troubles, prompting them peel off the city road to pull over and assess the issue. While slowly driving to a more suitable place to pull over, a group of mujahideen had taken an abandoned building as cover, tossing Molotov cocktails into the line of transports as they passed, igniting both the vehicles, Infantrymen and Marines inside. Although Trace had managed to roll out of one of the hummers, many of his teammates were not as lucky. Although he and the unaffected troops quickly disposed of the small group, it wasn’t fast enough to save the others. Despite the scorching hot vehicles still engulfed in flames, he still attempted to pull out one of his friends, Sergeant First Class Ryan Heider, burning his hands in the process. In the end, Staff Sergeant Trace had lost nearly his entire platoon, save four other men, one including Heider, although the third-degree burns had rendered his entire body from the waist down useless, and his legs were eventually amputated in order to save him from impending infection.

Ever since said incidents, Trace had put up the “rowdy Texan” façade in order to hide his internal pain and the mental trauma of seeing such atrocities committed at such a young age. To this day, only a few know much of his past as a Marine, except Jack, Eliza, and Yumiko, although she knows considerably less than the other two FBI operators.

* * *

 

A by-product of his tours in Iraq, Trace has grown to be extremely cautious in the field, preferring to take missions slower, paying more attention to details than many other operators his age, and methodically clearing out room by room. Multiple times during training and in live missions, his ideals will clash with those of Ash, for example, who prefers rushing in, taking the enemy by mass surprise and clearing them out as they moved along. Even in close conversation, he chooses his words more wisely, a certain wisdom to his speech gained only from seeing death and destruction first-hand multiple times. Although still quick with words, he takes a moment to assess the situation before proceeding in the manner he deems correct.

Despite having attempted to leave his militaristic tendencies for the battlefield, some instincts still held true, even when he had come home. Once, on his family ranch, a group of invaders had attempted to ransack and rob the home. Thanks to their German shepherd, he had been preeminently warned of their arrive, and by God was he ready.

By the time the police had arrived, there had already been four men laying in the dirt, hogtied and held together by a few bundles of zip ties. According to Trace, the moment they saw the M4 carbine in his hand, they had immediately surrendered, although one had tried to run away. Said man was promptly shot in the calf, rendering him immobile.

* * *

 

Unfortunately for his teammates, Jordan descended from Irish roots, and was raised in Texas. Needless to say, he had grown fond of beer and barbecue, often mixing the two together in the form of base-wide BBQ parties, grilling, with the help of Miles, burgers, hot dogs, steaks, and even smoking ribs if they were off-duty for a guaranteed extended amount of time. Since all the operators were payed a handsome check every month for their extensive training and risks during missions, Trace could easily afford any beer he wanted, but like the loyal American he was, he stuck to Bud Light, relenting only to buy a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a vodka for the Russians and the Polish.

* * *

 

_Jordan has seen more than enough in his day. From Iraq to his own front lawn, he’s seen more in a few years than most men will see in their entire lifetime. Needless to say, all that time had hardened him, but it had also opened a whole new part of him he never knew existed. Thanks to his intuition, we’ve eliminated more White Mask cells with less injuries than under any other squad leader’s command, second only to Thatcher._

_– Specialist Estrada, FBI SWAT_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *As far as I know, you can’t redeploy that quickly, but I may be wrong. This was pulled mostly from the internet, and we all know how reliable that is.
> 
> So that was my take on Thermite! I hope you guys enjoyed, and if you did, drop a kudo and a comment! I’d love to see who you guys want to see next


	10. Siu “Ying” Mei Lin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for JoyforLife, who requested this chapter. Unfortunately, I couldn’t include everything without it being too dragged out, but there is good news! I’ll be working on a Fuze chapter soon, so I will go in depth on their weird little dynamic in that chapter.

_Ying is an,_ interesting _case. To those who do not know her well, she’s easygoing, friendly, and quite often nonchalant about most things. However, to those who know her well, or can just easily see through others, she’s a whole other person, nervous, self-doubting, lack confidence that she can protect those she cares about. Oftentimes, I’ll be awakened by her PTSD-induced nightmares, forcing me to shake her awake whilst she was still thrashing about (thankfully the dorms are sound-proof. Nobody can hear except me, and I’m sure Mei Lin would like to keep it that way). The next morning, if I were to ask her about it, she would shrug it off, say it was nothing. While I hope that she’ll eventually open up, I trust that Yumiko will keep a close eye on her, seeing as they spend much of their time together._

_– Specialist Liu, SDU_

* * *

 

Born and raised in Central Hong Kong, Mei Lin enjoyed a comfortable upbringing, her mother a successful small-business owner, and her father a retired army officer, who was honorably discharged after an accident involving a tank and a few drunk recruits. While she had been raised in a middle-upper class family, she stayed incredibly humble, taking credit only when it was due. Ever since she was a small child, she was rather protective of her friends and family, once punching a boy in 5thgrade when he had pushed her little brother off the sidewalk, nearly driving him into oncoming traffic.

Thanks to her father’s training, she became extremely efficient with small arms and CQC methods, she was invited to an elite security service school after graduating secondary school, helping her land a well paying job in a private security company, where she ensured the safety of a variety of clients, from politicians to CEO’s. Seeking to become all-purpose operative, she traveled to Israeli, where she spent two years at a female-exclusive  training facility, where she improved her small firearm’s skills, and as taught advanced driving skills, allowing her to quickly maneuver her clientele out of tight situations. While at said facility, she had met future FBI SWAT Agent Cohen, then still a member of the IDF, and established a good friendship with her, sometimes even engaging in friendly shooting contests.

* * *

 

Once she had returned home, Mei Lin continued to ensure the protection of multiple high value individuals, including the Japanese representative for the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference held in Hong Kong, where she met former S.A.T. operator Masaru Enatsu (see Addendum A for further information) until 2008, when she was involved in a a kidnapping situation. While on leave, Siu had received word that one of her former clients, Jyu Victor Cheung had been kidnapped by a local mob, the syndicate having caught word that she had foiled on of their attempts at assassinating the CEO months prior. With the help of the police, she safely delivered the ransom to release Cheung to the designated location, allowing them to safely ensure his release.

After said incident, the Cantonese operative decided to redirect her career to the police force. While she had passed basic training with ease, she had first been assigned to review the tactics used by the Police Tactical Force's Security Wing, where her interest in leading international rescue operations grew, driving her to apply for the Flying Tigers, the SDU’s finest. After three months of board meeting, she was eventually approved, her experience as a successful bodyguard giving her an extra edge compared to others. After another six weeks in advanced training, she was officially dubbed a Flying Tiger, where she proceeded to complete multiple high value asset protection assignments with little to no injuries sustained, until November 27th, 2010.

* * *

 

_It was supposed to be a textbook operation; pick up the HVT, rendezvous with the rest of the detail, and escort to the embassy. I was the driver, I had volunteered to do so, since I had the most training. I thought, ‘if I’m driving, then everything will go smoothly’. I suppose looking back on it, it was rather foolish of me to assume so. Halfway through, just when we had entered the city, we were stopped. We were so far back in the detail I had assumed it was a checkpoint; after all, we had just driven from the HVT’s countryside homestead back into the city, and a few checkpoints were bound to pop up. I hadn’t though much of it, until I had realized that we hadn’t moved in nearly five minutes. When I radioed up ahead, I got nothing, so naturally, I sent someone out to investigate. Just as he (Chen. His name was Chen) got out the car, a bullet whizzed by, landing right between his eyes. Turns out, the ‘checkpoint’ had been stalling until the actual guns could arrive. I don’t remember much after, just that everything was speeding by so quickly, and the next thing I know, the car is flipped over and over and over, until it stopped, and the HVT was unconscious in the back seat. When I had pulled myself out, I could smell the gasoline, and that smell of burning rubber. I had unholstered my sidearm, assuming that I wasn’t going to have anyone watching my back. By the time I had pulled the HVT out, the hired guns were arriving, finally catching up to the wreckage. I must’ve used all my karma points in those few moments, because I had landed nearly all my shots, and many of their’s had missed, and if they did connect, it was with my body armour, and not Chen. By the time the rest of the SDU had arrived, most of the tangoes had run, not wanting to get arrested, I presume. Thankfully, word had gotten to the embassy, and they were on high alert, so by the time we had gotten there, there was already considerably more men patrolling the perimeter._

_– Excerpt from After Action Report, written by Specialist Mei Lin_

* * *

 

_Addendum A:_

_During Operation Black Jack (2005), Mei Lin was tasked with the protection of Matsuhiro Takahashi, Japan’s representative at the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference, then held in Hong Kong. Sent by the S.A.T., Specialist Enatsu was also assigned to Takahashi’s protection detail, thanks to his_ Yokai _and its versatility in urban situations. Both operatives were well versed in urban protection methods, allowing them to safely traverse Hong Kong’s dense urban population with little to no issues. It was reported post-operation that the two had engaged in a romantic relationship, although they had seemingly split a year later. According to sources, although the two separated on less than friendly terms, they have made amends, and are comfortable working with each other in a professional manner and setting. In addition, Specialist Enatsu is now in a relationship with fellow SDU Operative Tze Long, one that Mei Lin fully supports._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was Ying’s profile! I hope this did her justice, I personally think this was pretty good, but I might just be hyping myself up XD
> 
> As always, tell what you liked, or didn’t like, and if you’d like to see an operator soon, tell me in a comment below


	11. Erik ”Maverick” Thorn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested, here is Maverick! It’s a little on the short side, since it’s only a tad above 1K words, but I believe there’s enough for it to suffice. Hopefully you all with think the same

_Erik? Oh yeah, he’s very well known in the Intelligence Gathering community. Most people call him the the spook that ‘went dark’. A lot of people have questioned his time of complete silence, but since his reputation had already been immortalized when he collected enough to bring down a terrorist cell, his trial was shut down, he was exonerated, and his testimony sealed. I doubt it helped that he was also working with the Unit* when he had brought down the syndicate, so the big wigs probably just got the judges to let him loose. The man is normally pretty quiet, tends to keep to himself, but if you ask him about Kabul, or Afghanistan as a whole, you can really see his eyes just light up; fascinatingly enough, the same applies for any foreign language he’s fluent with. Once, I had been speaking with Chul Kyung about why Grace should_ really _stop hacking everyone’s phones off-mission, when Erik had passed by, casually remarking that she would ‘be seeing some things that she wished she didn’t’. At first the two of us had nodded, until we realized that he had replied in Korean, not English. When he noticed the two of us staring at him, he just gave us this sly little smile, like he knew something we didn’t. Just to see how fluent he was, we started engaging in more conversations in Korean with him, to which he had handled rather smoothly, replying with the confidence of someone whose mother language was in fact Korean. Ever since then, if any of us needed something from him, we would just ask him in a different language. For Chul Kyung and Grace, it was Korean, while I preferred to speak to him in Latin. As far as I can tell, Yumiko is the only other person besides the two of us to understand Latin, though I doubt Imagawa can actually converse fluently._

_– Specialist Campbell, FBI SWAT_

* * *

 

Born and raised in Boston to a middle-upper class family, Erik was within the smartest two percent in the country, multilingual and very athletic. From a young age, Thorn experienced a high amount of sensory input, enough to completely shut down most kids, but he evolved, breaking down and compartmentalizing all the information he had very rapidly received. Perhaps it’s why he internalizes his emotions. While many find him difficult to engage in conversation with, possibly due to his ability to read people with remarkable intensity, talk to him about Kabul and he can barely contain his excitement. His parents were loving, but strict, hardly allowing him to explore even his own neighborhood. When asked, he would respond that he joined the Army to escape that life, to experience a world he could only dream of when he was a child; to essentially roam the world. It’s likely that was why Afghanistan left such a heavy mark on him. After graduating high school, he enlisted, learning Dari and choosing his MOS* as a 35A (military intelligence)**. Once deployed to Kabul, Thorn watched international reporters, tourists, and criminals flocked to the city. He was eventually invited to the Unit as their regional specialist, where he stayed to keep tabs on Americans and to build a network of contacts. As the tensions rose in the city, Erik built allies and made connections, starting up safe houses in case of emergency, and keeping tabs on Americans and expats who had moved to Kabul, rescuing them when necessary and helping locals escape violence. Ever since he had seen foreigners partying in underground clubs and drinking at restaurants and bars, he knew that the “Kabubble” was going to burst, and soon; before anyone else had noticed, Erik had already seen the writings on the walls. It was later in the year, when Thorn had been investigating the disappearance of a reporter, when the Unit lost all contact with him. After two years of complete radio silence, he had finally been found by Nøkk, where he re-emerged with enough intel to dismantle a major insurgent organization, and its operations. While questions had been raised, the subject was soon dropped, his testimony sealed. Along with his expertise in urban operations and successful missions, he had eventually caught the attention of Six, who then invited him to join Team Rainbow.

* * *

 

A by-product of his sheltered childhood, Thorn is obsessed with all things foreign, especially language. Once he had joined Team Rainbow, he spent most of his time in the library, reading language books in an attempt to learn more, hoping to become fluent. It was in an encounter with Miles in said library when he had learned that the FBI agent was also an avid fan of linguistics. Together, the two now engage in friendly competitions on who can earn each other’s faster. By Campbell’s suggestion, Thorn chose to learn Korean, while the former chose to read up on Farsi. Now, since the two are rather fluent in Korean, the two with share flirtatious jokes with each other, much to almost everyone’s confusion. ~~If you see Vigil suddenly choking and coughing up a storm, he probably caught a bit of their flirting.~~

* * *

 

_Specialist Thorn is an,_ interesting _case. On one hand, he is quiet, does not bother engaging in too much conversation, preferring to keep to himself. On the other hand, once he begins talking about Kabul and Afghanistan as a whole, it seems he will never stop talking. One time, Grace made the mistake of asking Erik about Afghanistan. As a result, she sat with him for three hours, while he gushed about how it was beyond imagination there, and how the scenery was beautiful. Make no mistake, Mr. Thorn is a very pleasant man to talk with, but if you do no t play your cards correctly, he can read you like an open book. I believe he may have encountered a high amount of mental stress as a young child, forcing him to adapt. He now internalizes his thoughts and emotions, incredibly empathic to those he talks to, watching, listening, and dissecting everything one tells him. People can easily find solace in his presence, confiding in him while he empathizes with them. It is most likely why he managed to survive Kabul as an ever-present observer, spectating events from a safe distance, over-looking those he needs to protect._

_– Specialist Hwa, 707th SMB_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *MOS: Military Occupational Specialty
> 
> **Fun fact: Realistically, Maverick should not have been able to join the army as an enlisted, and have his MOS as an intelligence officer without having to graduate college with at least a bachelors degree. 
> 
> Anyways, that was Maverick! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did, tell what you did or didn’t like. As always, if you’d like to see another operator next, tell me in the comments below!


	12. Shuhrat “Fuze” Kessikbayev

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After what seemed like eternity of work and courses, I have finally overcome writer’s block, so hopefully this is an at least decent chapter!
> 
> For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the footnotes.
> 
> Warning: Extreme homophobia, although it only shows up for a line or two (I do not condone the use of homophobic slurs, and I used it only for the purposes of creating an asshole. If anything, said segment is to support those who stand up for the LGBT community and its rights.

_Specialist Kessikbayev is one of the most loyal Spetsnaz operators I’ve had the honor of knowing to this day, despite his birthplace not even residing within Russia. Although having gained a reputation for a “disregard for civilian lives”, Shuhrat in actuality cares very much for the wellbeing of hostages. Whenever his creation comes into contact with innocents, sometimes maiming but never outright killing, Kessikbayev oftentimes keeps a stoic face until the mission is done, usually locking himself in his room for hours, sometimes days on end. Despite Ying’s apparent ~~hatred~~  distaste towards Fuze, the man himself harbors no ill will against her, he is just too scared to attempt reconciliation. _

_A man of strong moral conviction, Shuhrat is an incredibly loyal and dependable man, contrary to his device’s unpredictable grenade expulsion pattern. Once, while out on one of the team’s rare bar nights, he had caught a group of men harassing Timur and Maxim, berating them and calling them ‘fucking queers’, or something along those lines. Tapping the man who seemed to be the leader of the posse on the shoulder, he had given them ample chances to leave, warning them multiple times to walk away before he returned, disappearing into the crowd under the guise of going to the bathroom, watching from a considerable distance. Still, the men persisted, pestering the couple for their orientations. Had Shuhrat not stopped me, I probably would have rallied the others to their aid, but he convinced me to hold back, if only for a few moments. Reappearing behind Glazkov and Basuda, he had patted their shoulders, grinning widely. He had asked them to go away, have fun someplace else. The moment they were out of the general area (the men had the ironic kindness to wait until they had left), the leader had lunged towards Kessikbayev, fists ready to connect. I believe Seamus had been the first to notice the then-small bar brawl, mentioning something to the bartender, probably warning him, before hollering to the others, a significant amount of us rising up to Shuhrat’s aid. Needless to say, a small mob of drunks were no match for a cluster of special forces operators._

_Unfortunately, the bartender hadn’t taken very kindly to the destruction we had left behind. To this day, I do not believe any of us have managed to step foot into the tavern, save the Asians. ~~But let’s be real, they get away with everything.~~_

_– Specialist Senaviev, Spetsnaz_

* * *

 

A straightforward and gruff man, Kessikbayev was born in Uzbekistan, but emigrated to Russia soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, where he lived in a no-nonsense household, his father a military man himself. Raised by extremely stern parents, Shuhrat discovered an aptitude for mechanics and engineering, often constructing model vehicles and tinkering with firearms his father had collected in his service with the Red Army before its collapse. When he came of age, Kessikbayev followed in his father’s footsteps and enlisted, where his gift with technology landed him a spot in the coveted weapon testing brigade at Alabino firing range near Moscow. During his time in the Ratnik experimental weaponry brigade, the APM-6 " _Matryoshka_ " was Kessikbayev’s attempt to create a more powerful breach charge, which in theory would be able to flushing enemies from a small room or concentrated area. It proved to be an effective means of clearing a room, dealing the most damage to hostiles while keeping the operator fairly safe, as long as they took proper precautions to not allow the cluster grenadestobounce back. The " _Matryoshka_ " can be anchored either vertically or horizontally, and once deployed, the piston would drive through walls or floors, dispersing live cluster grenades while spinning to deal the most damage to all directions. Best used in concentrated areas of enemies, the " _Matryoshka_ " is most useful in conditions where collateral damage is not a concern. It would be highly advised against to use this in hostage extractions, or in areas where there is a high risk of friendly fire.

Although curt in speech and oftentimes coming off as rude, many see past his gruff demeanor once they’ve worked alongside him long enough; case in point Specialist Lin. Despite her obvious distaste towards him, after being sent on enough missions, it has been reported that they have now made amends, and can now tolerate each other in a professional manner. Even though Ying still has a slight disliking for him, it is apparent that Fuze would go to extreme lengths to keep his team safe, even if she is in said team. During the the biohazard crisis in a San Francisco bank, Fuze had tackled the Cantonese attacker to the side when a suicide bomber had detonated dangerously close. While Ying had been left unharmed, Kessikbayev was not as fortunate. The Uzbek’s body having taken the brunt of the explosion, and although his body armor had protected the majority of his back, a rather large piece of shrapnel had embedded itself into his left shoulder blade, the least protected part of his rig. Although he had been in a hospital for a small period of time, he is currently operation ready again, preparing himself again to compensate for his few weeks hiatus.

* * *

_One can only take so much pestering and teasing, even if it is in friendly banter. One of the best examples of this is Kessikbayev, and his reputation for being a ‘hostage killer’. From my understanding which mostly consisted of reading lengthy written reports and calling in Specialist Cohen for her own take on the operation as a whole, ‘The Incident’ had been caused by a rogue cluster grenade having been launched from the charge farther than intended, landing in the explosives lethal distance. After discovering the hostage’s body, who later be identified as Richard Morgan, a firearms engineer, brother to a well known former S.A.S. member Alexander Morgan (One of his most notable skills was his ability to make any person crack, especially in unconventional torture. Word has it that he was captured and broken in by the White Masks after he had set out on a rage fueled rampage against a nearby terrorist cell, possibly making him a valuable asset to their organization, no doubt not only as a small team leader, but as a torturer with unconventional talents), Ying had flown into an understandable, but still incredibly volatile, fit of rage, apparently kicking and yelling and screaming at the top of her lungs until Eliza had tried to pick her up, in which she had wiggled her way out, before lunging at Shuhrat. For years, she had called him a ‘questionable asset’, and very clearly showed her disgust when she had learned he was also a member of Rainbow. Since ’The Incident’, Fuze has not had any hostage fatalities, although any overdone ‘hostage killer’ jokes can sometimes send him into an uncontrollable anger, and the rest of the Spetsnaz team being extremely pissed at you for an extended amount of time_

_Despite all this, after some evaluation, the two now work together quite well, albeit on a still slightly shaky foundation._

_– Harry “Six” Pandey, NATO_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first off, I’d like to apologize for dropping off the map (Bravo six went dark). Having to juggle work, life, and college is stressful, and recently lost a friend very close to me, so I had some personal problems to deal with, and therefore haven’t been feeling up to write.
> 
> With that said, if you’re suffering from depression or any other mental problems, talk to someone, it could very well save your life! I know it sounds cliche, and everyone else says it, but it’s true. Having someone to listen to you can mean the world’s difference, especially if the person listening can try to offer support in any way possible. If you’d like to talk about anything, just ask! I have a discord and IG handle that you can contact me on, all you have to do is reach out.
> 
> Anyways, again, I apologize for going missing. Hopefully updates will come more often now, best case every Sunday. Like always, I can’t keep this up without requests, so keep asking! Even if you’ve asked for some ops, I encourage you to ask again, because chances are I’ve forgotten :P
> 
> Have a good day everyone, and remember to tell the one’s you care about that you appreciate them.


	13. Gustave “Doc” Kateb

_Raised in the 16 th arrondissement, Kateb hails from a well-known and very respected lineage in military and medicine. He could have easily chosen a path in private medicine, safe and sound in his mother country, but he instead chose to  follow in his great-grandfather’s footsteps, opting to save lives in a more dangerous field. In his second year of studies at the prestigious Université Paris Descartes, he answered the call for volunteers in Médicins sans Frontières (MSF) . Ever since, he’s volunteered for various emergency frontline aid missions, deploying even in whatever free time he has. Upon graduation, he turned down an offer to work in a private medical practice that was run by family friends in favor of a career with the French Defense Health Service. Aware of the ever-present demand for doctors in impoverished or dangerous places, Gustave still oftentimes works with MSF._

_– Specialist Gilles “Montagne” Touré, GIGN_

* * *

 

Of French and Algerian descent, Gustave Kateb was born to an affluent family, its lineage very well-respected in both the medical and military worlds, likely due to his great-grandfather’s contributions to field medicine during World War II’sentirety on the French frontlines. Having enrolled in the renowned _Université Paris Descartes_ at the age of twenty-one, he had initially held no interest for medicine, admitting that he had nearly quit after the first year. Despite this, his grandfather’s service was a strong motivator, spurring him volunteer to in a frontline operation in East Africa with the MSF, treating wounded civilians that were caught in the line of fire during a deadly revolt. Unfortunately, the local militia had stormed the hospital where he was working, killing all people he had so desperately tried to save. The QRF team hadn’t arrived soon enough to save those men, and it was then that he realized that he could save lives not only with a scalpel, but with a bullet as well.

His primary disciplines being Toxicology and Ecotoxicology, Kateb has authored multiple studies on the subjects, including biological weapons and their effects on at-risk victims, and has assisted in studies by the European Centre for Disease Control. Thanks to his advancements in medicine and role as a combat physician, he is highly regarded medical officer for the _commandement des forces spécial Terre._

Having been born to a rather wealthy family, heightening his chances of having been a narcissist, he is often described as one of the most open and accessible people on base. Despite not having had a formal education on psychology, Kateb still makes every effort to make sure everyone, even the recruits, know that if they need someone to talk to, he would be there for them; one notable occurrence being when Estrada’s mother had passed away. Although Rainbow had a very prevalent unspoken rule to immediately notify any operator of personal problems or tragedies, Pulse had been out in a mission raiding a suspected White Mask cell near Kuwait, and as much as Yumiko had wanted to contact him the moment they were notified that the mission had been completed (Jordan had had to bribe Grace for a Grade-A encryption when Yumiko had off-handedly mentioned that she had been resisting urges to just tell Pulse the moment she had heard the news), she eventually saw reason, waiting until he had settled back down into the Border C&I (Customs and Inspection) checkpoint to break the unfortunate news. It had been nothing short of a miracle that Doc had been stationed with him, because the moment Estrada had walked in with a solemn look in his eyes, he had known something had gone terribly wrong. It was on that fateful Thursday, that Doc saw past the usually stoic and emotionless façade that Pulse had held up, and had taken a peek at the softer side of Jack Estrada, one that held his family and beloved before anything else. Being the empathetic man that he was, Gustave had immediately put in a request to get Jack back to Hereford, and then back to North Carolina. The hope had been that he would bring Yumiko along to North Carolina, where the pair would meet with his father, and attend the funeral; after that, he would take some paid leave, and spend time with his remaining family in an effort to recuperate from the devastating loss. He had done the first half perfectly, bringing his beloved along to return home to his family ranch and mourn his mother’s passing with his father. The problem was, mere days after the funeral, he was already signing papers to be flown back to Hereford to resume his duties.

After plenty of time spent trying to convince him otherwise, Estrada eventually caved, allowing himself to stay at his ranch, reducing his work to tending to the horses every morning to take his mind away for awhile. Although many had tried to ask questions, Doc had never disclosed any information regarding why he had let the pair off on leave, save a small remark that was too quiet for almost anyone to hear.

* * *

 

Professional in every right, Gustave still has his moments of infamy, known for his unparalleled rage whenever someone had pushed him far enough over the edge. Even though he had kept a large container full of condoms (because who knows how the operators let off steam outside of training simulations? And does it really matter if almost all of the females were on birth control? It’s always better to be safe than sorry!), Bandit had had the brilliant idea to steal all but one right before three teams had returned home, which was unfortunately, the most often time that they would get picked up, even though they were borderline unnecessary. The ensuing collapse had consisted of multiple attempts at stealing the infamous “Last Condom” from each other, until Trace had used his brain ~~for once~~ and had rolled it on before anyone could steal it from him. Following him going commando with the protection as his only cover, nobody had even dared come near him, let alone try to steal it. After the chaos, when Doc had realized that it was Bandit who had likely stolen all the packets, he flew into an unbridled rage, barely being held back by the combined forces of Montagne, Sledge, and Maestro.

* * *

 

_Doc is great, yeah! That man is a lifesaver, and I don’t think anyone on base can contest that. ~~The way that he conducts his physicals is absolutely amazing!~~ He is extremely professional in his physical evaluations, and he always ensures that we are in tip-top condition! One time, during a training mission out of the sims, Kapkan had leaped out of a second story window trying to evade Blitz, and he landed wrong, breaking his left leg. Even though he had attempted escape from the infirmary, he was stopped by a quite cross looking Doc, and was promptly sent back and punished with an extra two weeks banned from the sims, forced to only spectate whenever they ran simulation training._

_– Private First Class Jonathan Seymour, SAS Recruit_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, tell me what you think in the comments below! Drop a kudo or request an operator you’d like to see next!


	14. Emmanuelle “Twitch” Pichon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit shorter than normal, but I hope it suffices.
> 
> Enjoy :)

_If I had to define Emma in one phrase, it would be ‘an organized mess’. She has this way of getting so engrossed in her projects that when she is so spaced out all her things, once neat and organized, will become an easily recognizable mess. Everything is in this order that allows her, and only herself, to navigate the workbench. She has a sleep schedule similar to that of Masaru’s, meaning that if you enter the workshop early in the morning, before any sane person should be awake, you might find the pair out cold on the couch together, Emma likely curled up against him, and Masaru wrapped around her in a sort of protective curl around. ~~It’s kinda cute, really, seeing the two them’s soft side.~~  Funnily enough, neither of them usually realize this until they wake up, and it almost always by either their significant others or Grace, much to their amusement (and the pair’s embarrassment)._

_– Specialist Elena “Mira” Álvarez, GEO_

* * *

Born in the historical town of Nancy, Emmanuelle encouraged at an early age to let her imagination roam free, enabling her to rise above her classmates in Math, Science, and Technology. Raised by a family who praised exemplary records in academics, excelling in computer programming competitions at a young age, leading to her joining the army cadets at age sixteen, where she immediately caught the eyes of her superiors, who also encouraged her to continue studies in robotics engineering  while she pursued her military career. Driven by a passion to protect her fellow soldiers, Pichon began to develop adaptive technology to ensure the safety of those operating in high risk areas, limiting the chances of injury or death in most situations. Although having received much praise for her advancements in drone technology, her tactical skill and ability to solve and adapt to problems on the fly during missions is what sets her above the rest, landing her a spot on the GIGN, and later Rainbow. Although her main research focus is on drone development, she is fluent in French, English, and German, and is currently taking Korean lessons from Castle in order to communicate with Specialist Hwa in a language he is more comfortable with.

Understanding and caring, Pichon is often looked at as a little sister, the fact being that she was one of the youngest of the original roster not quite helping her break that image either. Although many see engineers to be emotionally detached (read: Specialist Enatsu being one of the prime examples at times), Pichon is incredibly empathetic, able to sympathize with even the most tragic of occasions, her own mother having suffered from a debilitating case of multiple sclerosis when she was younger. Besides being sympathetic to nearly anyone, she is also very easy to communicate with, her speech very to the point and articulated clearly.

* * *

Instilled by her father at an early age, Twitch strives to be as good as she can possibly be in an effort to change the world for the better. Whether it be on deployment or in social settings, Pichon is often spoken very highly of by most anyone in Team Rainbow; Specialist Kateb is particularly fond of her due to her intuition and humanitarian outlook, and more electronically capable operators like Specialists Flament and Enatsu praising her for her technological know-how, especially in the drone field.

Preferring to conduct her own research rather than read it off a paper, Pichon studies technology the way one would interact with a puppy or an infant, which only stands for her innate compassion. She is currently trying to teach AI empathy, and in turn, it will teach other humans. Although it is the improvement of quality of life, and the safety of her fellow operators that drives her research in robotics and her military career as a whole, some worry that she is becoming too idealistic, neglecting to see that there are sone tasks that require the human eye to perform well.

Besides researching advances in technology, Pichon also enjoys watching people, studying their behaviors and how they interact with obstacles around them. It is said that she sometimes rides buses for hours, even days at a time to study how humans interact with the world surrounding them. If not on a bus, than she can often be found in high-density restaurants, studying the crowd’s behaviors. She is also an avid traveler, sometimes prone to wanderlust, and an urge to travel to places unknown. When asked of where she has been, her list of where she _hasn’t_ been is shorter than where she has. Of the places she wishes to visit most, she has yet to set foot in Japan, although according to Specialist Imagawa, she is planning to follow them to their respective hometowns and live with them for a few months while they are rotated back to duty with the S.A.T. for their returning tour.

* * *

_Emma is an exceptional operator, and we are very lucky to have her in the GIGN, and Team Rainbow as a matter of fact. Her ability to adapt to difficult situations on the fly makes her a remarkable tactician, and and overall a ver flexible operative. Once, when a yacht had been taken over by White Masks, and its crew and passengers were taken hostage, the terrorists had demanded a $250,000 ransom for the lives of twenty-five men and women, she had devised a plan to pinch the main objective room, where they were holding most of the hostages. Borrowing Mike’s EMP grenades, she had disabled their radios, cutting off their comms; once the lights were out, and the terrorists scared for their lives, they had struck, the shadows in their advantage as they eliminated the opposition. Although I was not present for the operation itself, according to the after-action report, it was a complete success, all hostages saved, and the White Masks killed. Had it not been for her idea of using the EMP’s, the risk of losing more civilian lives would have been exponentially higher._

_– Specialist Gilles “Montagne” Touré, GIGN_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, to be completely honest here, comments and kudos REALLY help with my production speed. I’m not quite sure why, but whenever I see a lack of comments, I always immediately think that I messed up, so I pour myself over the previous chapter, making sure that everything is perfect. And despite all the positive feedback I’ve been receiving from all you great people, there’s always this lingering thought that what I make will never be enough, or that it just will never be good enough.
> 
> I don’t know, maybe I’m just pressing myself too hard. As always, drop a comment or kudos below. Next week’s update should be on Organized Takeover.


	15. IMPORTANT UPDATE

Hello everyone, my name is Mel. If you've been around, you know that I've been writing and posting on this account for a while, and that we've also gone stagnant for a while. 

The reason why is that we've all been extremely busy, but that isn't why I'm doing this. 

Yesterday, Marcus was shot, and today, he was declared dead. 

I'm very sorry for this abrupt notice, but I will not be posting anything for a while. I will try my best to honor his memory and continue these stories however I can, but please bear with me for a little while longer.

 

Thank you all, 

\- Mel


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